Kurosawa Movies - help rank these

[Stupornaut]

"High and Low" is actually one of my favorite procedurals of all time. I was a bit bewildered at the outset when the first half-hour was this tense, claustrophobic kidnapping-negotiations drama, but once it burst out of that setting and unfurled into the investigations phase of the movie it was completely riveting. It really does a great job of starting from the top level of societal strata and slowly sinking down into an abyss of total dereliction.

[buffcoat]

Thanks, everybody.  Here are the remaining Kurosawa films for the month.  Any opinions about these?

* Petey - Hakuchi is a 1951 Kurosawa film - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043614/

I'm watching Ikiru right now, and you're right that it's lovely.


Sanshiro Sugata (1943)  A young man struggles to learn the ssence of the martial arts. Cast: Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Akitake Kono, Shoji Kiyokawa. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-79 mins, TV-PG  

Most Beautiful, The (1944) Japanese women sacrifice everything for the war effort. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Shoji Kiyokawa, Ichiro Sugai. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-85 mins, TV-PG  

Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail, The (1945) In medieval Japan, a feudal lord undertakes a perilous mission to put his brother's soul to rest. Cast: Kenjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Kenichi Enomoto. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-59 mins, TV-PG  

Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 (1945)  A judo fighter continues his training to prove his superiority to foreign challengers. Cast: Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita, Ryunosuke Tsukigata. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-82 mins, TV-PG  

Regrets For Our Youth (1946)  A woman flees society after seeing her father and lover destroyed by government oppression. Cast: Danjiro Oicochi, Eiko Miyoshi, Setsuko Hara. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-PG  

One Wonderful Sunday (1947) An engaged couple tries to enjoy their Sunday holiday without spending any money. Cast: Midori Ariyama, Chieko Nakakita, Isao Numasaiki. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-110 mins, TV-PG  

Drunken Angel (1948)  An alcoholic doctor builds a shaky friendship with a dying gangster. Cast: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Reizaburo Yamamoto. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-98 mins, TV-PG, CC  

Stray Dog (1949)  When a detective's gun is stolen, he tears apart the underworld to get it back. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi, Shimamura, Keiko Awaji. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-122 mins, TV-PG  

Rashomon (1950)  In medieval Japan, four people offer conflicting accounts of a rape and murder. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-88 mins, TV-PG  

*NOTE - I have seen Rashomon and thought it was great.

Seven Samurai (1954)  Japanese villagers hire a team of traveling samurai to defend them against a bandit attack. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Kuninori Kodo. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-207 mins, TV-14  

*NOTE - I have seen Seven Samurai and thought it was great.

Yojimbo (1961) A samurai-for-hire sets the warring factions of a Japanese town against each other. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Eijiro Tono, Seizaburo Kawazu. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-111 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format  

*NOTE - I have seen Yojimbo and it's my favorite Kurosawa movie so far.

Sanjuro (1962)  A wandering samurai recruits younger fighters to help him battle corruption. Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Hakadai, Yuzo Kayama. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. BW-96 mins, TV-14, Letterbox Format  

Dodes 'Ka-Den (1970)  Slum dwellers in Tokyo fight to survive while dreaming of better lives. Cast: Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Kaou Kato. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-140 mins, TV-14  

Dersu Uzala (1975)  A Russian explorer brings the Asiatic hunter who saved his life back to civilization. Cast: Maksim Munzuk, Yuri Solomin, Svetlana Danilchenko. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-141 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format  

Kagemusha (1980)  Japanese clansmen force a poor thief to impersonate their dead warlord. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Kenichi Hagiwara. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-181 mins, TV-PG, Letterbox Format  

*NOTE - I have seen Kagemusha and thought it was great.

Ran (1985)  An aging lord's decision to retire brings out the worst in his sons. Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu. Dir: Akira Kurosawa. C-163 mins, , Letterbox Format  

[masterofsparks]

Stray Dog is Kurosawa's take on film noir. Mifune is very clean-cut and unusually restrained in his performance. I like it a lot.

Sanjuro is kind of a sequel to Yojimbo, so if you loved that one, you should definitely watch Sanjuro.

[crumbum]

Stray Dog is Kurosawa's take on film noir. Mifune is very clean-cut and unusually restrained in his performance. I like it a lot.

Sanjuro is kind of a sequel to Yojimbo, so if you loved that one, you should definitely watch Sanjuro.

It's been a long time since I saw Stray Dog but what has stuck with me are the scenes with Mifune walking the streets in sections of Tokyo that were still completely ravaged by the war. Although I didn't make the connection when I first saw the film in hindsight I think you could argue these scenes were Kurosawa's stab at neo-realism, which was all the rage in the art-film world of the time (around 1950). In any case the images from that section of the movie (I believe there's a long stretch of 10 minutes or so which is dialogue-free) are really remarkable. I'm sure the rest of the film is terrific as well, I just can't remember it well.

[Chris L]

Dersu Uzala is a curious one, but effective.  It was made in Russia w/ a Russian cast and crew, during the period when his career was pretty much in ruins in Japan following his suicide attempt.  I liked it, but I like everything of his I've seen.

[Martin]

I'm not a big fan.

[jbissell]

"High and Low" is actually one of my favorite procedurals of all time. I was a bit bewildered at the outset when the first half-hour was this tense, claustrophobic kidnapping-negotiations drama, but once it burst out of that setting and unfurled into the investigations phase of the movie it was completely riveting. It really does a great job of starting from the top level of societal strata and slowly sinking down into an abyss of total dereliction.

Totally agree. I especially love the procedural stuff because it's just solid detective work, not CSI-type shit.

[buffcoat]

Dersu Uzala is a curious one, but effective.  It was made in Russia w/ a Russian cast and crew, during the period when his career was pretty much in ruins in Japan following his suicide attempt.  I liked it, but I like everything of his I've seen.

Where did he find Russian actors who could speak Japanese?

[Chris L]

Dersu Uzala is a curious one, but effective.  It was made in Russia w/ a Russian cast and crew, during the period when his career was pretty much in ruins in Japan following his suicide attempt.  I liked it, but I like everything of his I've seen.

Where did he find Russian actors who could speak Japanese?

I don't know, but to answer the other question you'll have, yes, that's a young Vladimir Putin as "Frightened sake thief #3."

[Pat K]

Throne Of Blood is one of those movies that I can watch anywhere, anytime, for any duration, and never get sick of it.

[buffcoat]

I loved The Hidden Fortress.  Toshiro Mifune is awesome.

I've watched half of Ikiru.  Only another 18 or 19 movies to go.

[Christina]

I loved The Hidden Fortress.  Toshiro Mifune is awesome.

Agreed, and agreed - I have a MAJOR thing for Mifune.

[Tor_Hershman]

Moi hast viewed three of these.

“Hidden Fortress” is my favorite of all Kurosawa films.  It’s dramatically scintillating with hilariously well timed bits of humor.  The characters’ lows are such dramatic highs, pure genius.

“Ikiru” is fantastically entertaining and the ‘gear changing’ is timing quintessentially personified.   Kurosawa REALLY set-moi-up with the funeral scene AND THEN that amazingly nifty finish, beautiful.

“Thorne Of Blood,” a splendiferously staged and acted Japanesse version of one of The Bard’s finest (Act  V – Scene V – Gad, Ya’d hav-ta have a “Bad guy” say that kind-a TRUTH ta get ANY 'air play' .).

[Spoony]

I'd never seen Stray Dog, so I gave that a shot. I thought is was a great police procedural, and about Sparks' comments on post-war Japan, it was very much in tune with what directors were trying to do in America at the time by making statements about the shattered kids coming back from the war.

It almost becomes a film noir with it's intersection of a lost generation and the lawmen trying to contain them, but instead of the story being told from the criminals who realize they have no place in society anymore, it's by two police trying to make sense of them.

[Ojingeo]

on a personalized netflix rating system:

The Lower Depths - 4 stars. Or more. Oh. Let's make it five.
Hakuchi - haven't seen! ach!
The Hidden Fortress - Been too long. Must watch again soon.
Throne of Blood - 5 stars
Ikiru - 5 stars Lovely lovely lovely.
The Bad Sleep Well - 4 stars (maybe more, I don't know.)
High and Low - a million stars. I love it so bad for so many reasons.
I Live in Fear - haven't seen, must see soon.
Scandal - I think I saw it, but it didn't make much of an impression on me.